Spiritual Suggestions from the Twelve Steps

Spiritual Expansion Study
Suggestions from the AA
Twelve Steps Book
15- AA’s Twelve Steps are a group of principles, spiritual in their nature, which if practiced as a way of life, can expel the obsession to drink / the essays - mainly for members - might find application outside AA
16- mainly from the fields of religion and medicine
Step One – Admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.
21- we have warped our minds into such an obsession for destructive drinking only an act of Providence can remove it from us.
22- an insane urge / an allergy of the body that insured we would ultimately destroy ourselves
24- We stand ready to do anything which will lift the merciless obsession from us.
Step Two – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
26- all you really need is a truly open mind
27- AA’s tread innumerable paths in their quest for faith / make AA your higher power / you can have faith in them. This minimum of faith will be enough.
28- most of them began to talk of God.
29- Why should we be bothered with theological abstractions and religious duties, or with the state of our souls here or hereafter? / we had to look for our lost faith. It was in AA that we rediscovered it.
30- we received the gift of faith, a faith which works. This faith is for you, too.
31- Belief meant reliance, not defiance / This was not only faith; it was faith that worked under all conditions
32- religious practices / The fact was we really hadn’t cleaned house so that the grace of God could enter us and expel the obsession.
33- True humility and an open mind can lead us to faith, and every AA meeting is an assurance that God will restore us to sanity if we rightly relate – to Him.
Step Three – Made a decision to our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
34- willingness / a pathway / to faith that works.
38- be willing to look for something better.
40- Nothing short of continuous action upon these (steps) as a way of life can bring the much-desired result. Step Three opens the door.
41- begin the practice of Step Three. (Big Book p 63)
Step Four – Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
43- Without a inventory – faith – is still out of reach.
44- Instincts on rampage balk at investigation.
46- the newcomer can fearlessly – look at his own defects. / the light of reason can shine.
47- We had to drink because of ….
48- the Seven Deadly Sins of pride, greed, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth.
49- these failings generate fear, a soul-sickness
50- the sense of relief at finally facing ourselves is indescribable / the beginning of a lifetime practice,
54- Whatever the defects, they have finally ambushed us into alcoholism and misery.
Step Five – Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 55- All of A.A.'s Twelve Steps – deflate our egos. / few steps are harder to take than Five. / many AA’s at first try to bypass Step Five.
56- sins - Everybody had to confess his own. / it characterizes the lives of all spiritually centered and truly religious people.
57- the grace of God will not enter to expel our destructive obsessions until we are willing to try this. / the beginning of true kinship with man and God.
58- began to get the feeling we could be forgiven,
59- holding back nothing, – willing to take advice
60- it confirms we have been honest with ourselves and with God / people of very high spiritual development insist on checking with - spiritual advisers – guidance – they received from God.
61- you ought to make a beginning as soon as possible / for the more difficult and deeper revelations – your clergyman
62- hold back nothing / a healing tranquility / felt the presence of God / become conscious of God
Step Six – Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
63-This is the Step that separates the men from the boys. So declares a well-loved clergyman who happens to be one of AA’s greatest friends
64- the grace of God can enter and expel their obsession / Creator’s desire to give them new life.
65- God will certainly forgive our derelictions.
68- striving – for the perfect objective which is of God / We shall need to raise our eyes toward perfection, and be ready to walk in that direction.
"Are we ready?"
69- The moment we say "No, never!" our minds close against the grace of God. Delay is dangerous, and rebellion may be fatal. – we abandon limited objectives, and move towards God’s will for us.
Step Seven – Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
71- character-building and spiritual values had to come first / material satisfactions were not the purpose of living.
72- We never thought of making honesty, tolerance and true love of man and God the daily basis of living. / blindness to the true purpose of our lives / That basic ingredient of all humility, a desire to seek and do God’s will, was missing.
74- humility – a necessary aid to our survival / this newfound peace is a priceless gift
75- pain had been the price of admission into a new life. / "Of myself I am nothing the Father doeth the works" (Step Seven Prayer, Big Book pg 76).
76- the grace of God can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Step Eight – Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
77- a moving and fascinating adventure. / redouble his efforts to see how many people he has hurt,
78- the pain will be lessened as one obstacle after another melts away.
80- "harmed" – the result of instincts in collision, which cause physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual damage to people.
82- It is the beginning of the end of isolation from our fellows and from God
Step Nine – Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
84- First we will wish to be reasonably certain that we are on the A.A. beam. Then we are ready to go to these people, to tell them what A.A. is and what we are trying to do.
86- lay our cards on the table. / asking God’s help
87- a complete willingness to make amends as fast and as far as may be possible / do not delay because we are afraid / the very spirit of Step Nine.
Step Ten – Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
88- the wise have always known that no one can make much of his life until self-searching becomes a regular habit,
89- spiritual advisor / an occasional retreat / this healthy practice – will be so interesting and profitable
90- It is a spiritual axiom that every time we are disturbed, no matter what the cause, there is something wrong with us. / no exceptions to this rule
91- train ourselves to step back and think. self-control
92- we are today sober only by the grace of God and that any success we may be having is far more His than ours.
93- Courtesy, kindness, justice and love are the keynotes / "Not my will, but Thine, be done." / pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress
94- try to visualize how we might of done better and resolve with God’s help to carry these lessons over into tomorrow / our ancient enemy rationalization
95- we can truly thank God for the blessings
Step Eleven – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
96- To certain newcomers and one-time agnostics who still cling to the AA group as their higher power,
97- unexpected results followed / we were sold on meditation and prayer. / vitally needed – for – the soul. We all need the light of God’s reality, the nourishment of His strength the atmosphere of His grace
98- self-examination, meditation and prayer. / an unshakable foundation for life. / Now and then we may be granted a glimpse of that ultimate reality which is God’s kingdom. / our own destiny in that realm will be secure as long as we try to find and to do the will of our own Creator. / We will want to go further. / The world’s libraries and places of worship are a treasure trove for all seeders. / every AA who has a religious connection which emphasizes meditation will return to the practice of that devotion as never before.
99- look at a really good prayer. / the great men and women of all religions have left us a wonderful supply. / a man – now – rated as a saint
(Step Eleven Prayer) see, feel, and wish to become:
Lord, Make me a channel of thy peace – that where there is hatred, I may bring love – that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness – that where there is discord, I may bring harmony – that where there is error, I may bring truth – that where there is doubt, I may bring faith – that where there is despair, I may bring hope – that where there are shadows, I may bring light – that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted – to understand, than to be understood – to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven, It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen
100- drop all resistance / in meditation,
101- let us proceed like this / he wanted become a channel he asked for the grace to bring love, forgiveness, harmony, truth, faith, hope, light and joy to every human being he could. / self-forgetting / Meditation / has no boundaries, / Aided by such instruction and example as we can find it is an individual adventure, / Its object is – to improve our conscious contact with God, His wisdom, and love.
102- emotional balance / Now what of prayer, prayer is the raising of heart and mind to God / a petition to God
103- "Thy will, not mine, be done" / the surest help of all – our search for God’s will, not our own,
105- God does move in a mysterious way His wonders to perform / when we turn to Him, all will be well with us, here and hereafter.
Step Twelve – Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principals in our affairs.
106- emotional sobriety / most important meaning / a free gift / made himself ready to receive it
107- for the time being, - our own group, or A.A. would suffice as a higher power
109- meditation and prayer, did open the channel / sure power and safe guidance from God / the spiritual angle – love God / the magnificent reality, of A.A.
110- he stands at the opening of new mysteries, joys and experiences / as they move from darkness to light
111- turn more and more to the entire Twelve Steps for the answers. / What about the practice of these principals in all our affairs?
112- Can we bring the same spirit of love and tolerance into our sometimes deranged family lives / carry the A.A. spirit into our daily work / bring new purpose and devotion to the religion of our choice / Can we accept poverty, sickness, loneliness and bereavement with courage and serenity?
113- Can we transform these calamities into assets, sources of growth and comfort / if we are willing to receive that grace of God which can sustain and strengthen us in any catastrophe.
114- troubles – turn them into demonstrations of faith / situations met with fortitude and faith. / Our answer is still more spiritual development. / as we grow spiritually, we find that our old attitudes towards our instincts need to undergo drastic revisions. / tempered and redirected / place spiritual growth first – then and only then do we have a real chance.
116- these new attitudes – inner strength and peace
117- how to be more happily married
119- persistently tries all of AA’s Twelve Steps in his home / who wish to marry and are in a position to do so / common interest in A.A. and spiritual things
121- a job – an opportunity for service
122- troubles could be turned into greater values. / it did matter what our spiritual condition was. / freedom from fear – more important than freedom from want.
124- try to be humbly grateful and exert ourselves the more in a spirit of love and service. / love freely given surely brings a full return,
124- 125- True ambition is the deep desire to live usefully and walk humbly under the grace of God.